Rolling ball game device



Feb. 9, 1954 J. J. MORSCH ,668,7

ROLLING BALL GAME DEVICE Filed Oct. 16, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. ./5.$ J A/aPJc/ 1 Feb. 9, 1954 J. J. MORSCH ,668

ROLLING BALL GAME DEVICE Filed Oct. 16, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3? 33 36' fl l l l l i j 5 INVENTOR. Y 55? 5 .4355 J W/Zmfcfl Patented Feb. 9, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT 1 OFFICE ROLLING BALL GAME DEVICE Jesse J. Morsch, Douglas, Wyo.

Application October 16, 1952, Serial No. 315,080

6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a game and amusement device and has for its principal object the provision of an amusement game which will require a certain amount of skill and which will produce unusual and intriguing motions and noises so as to be attractive to the players or users.

Another object is to provide an amusement device of the above character which will have a chance scoring feature which will enable it to be used for various games of chance.

Qther objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and eificiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views or" the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top view of the improved game and amusement device;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top View, illustrating an alternate form of the device to be later described;

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section, taken on the line i l, Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal cross-section, taken on the line 55, Fig. i;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary, vertical section, taken on the line 66, Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged detail section, taken on the line 'l-l, Fig. 4;

' Fig. 8 is a side view of the portion shown in section in Fig. '7, illustrating a ball throwing arm employed in the device as it would appear in the locked position; and

Fig. 9 is a similar view, illustrating the ball throwing arm in the released position.

The improved game and amusement device employs a hollow, inverted, conical bowl I6 having a ball retaining rim I l surrounding its upper open periphery. The bowl It] is threaded or otherwise secured on an oscillatable post E2 to which it is locked by means of a suitable jam nut l3. The post 52 terminates at its bottom in a hinge memher it by means of which it is hingedly mounted on a hinge shaft 55. The hinge shaft extends between, and is supported by, the sides of a rectangular housing is having an open bottom positioned over a base member ii to which it is secured by means of suitable attachment screws It.

It can be seen that the post 12 and the bowl Iii are free to tilt back and forth about the axis of the shaft E5. The post i2 is tilted by means of an eccentric member !9 which is connected to the'post i2. by means of an attachment "clip 26,

and which rides about an eccentric 2i mounted or formed on an eccentric shaft 22.

The shaft 22 is driven by means of a drive pinion 23 mounted thereon and meshing with a drive gear 24 which is fixedly mounted on a crank shaft 25 terminating in an actuating crank 26. The shafts 22 and 25 are also supported between the sides of the housing I6, with the crank 26 positioned on the exterior of the housing.

.It can be seen that if the crank 26 be rotated, it will act through the mechanism above described to tilt the bowl I6 backward and forward. The tilting motion is more rapid than the crank rotation, due to the mutliplying effect of the small pinion 23 and large gear 24.

A freely rolling ball is placed in the bowl Hi. If the ball 21 is impelled about the bowl, it will hug the periphery of the bowl [0 within the retaining rim H through the action of centrifugal force. Now, if the crank 26 is simultaneously rotated, so that the lateral oscillations of the bowl it will coincide with the revolutions of the ball 2'! about the periphery of the bowl, the speed of the ball 21 may be accelerated to any desired point.

When no further rotation is applied to the crank 26, the ball 21 will gradually decelerate until gravitational force exceeds centrifugal force, causing the ball 2'! to fall to the bottom of the bowl It.

As thus far described, the game makes a very attractive device requiringskill and muscle coordination on the part of the player to maintain the speed of oscillation at the proper point to provided the desired acceleration for the ball 21. The noise created by the rolling ball combined with the various oscillating and rotating movements makes an attractive amusement device.

For use as a game an annular series of holes 28 are formed about the periphery of the bottom of the bowl It, and provided with suitable index or scoring numbers as illustrated, therefore, when the ball 2'? comes to rest, it will be retained in one of the scoring holes and the number of that hole is added to the players score.

II" it is desired to still further increase the scoring probabilities, a plurality of pockets 29 may be positioned on the inclined side of the bowl lil above the holes 28, as shown in the alternate form or Fig. 3, and these pockets may be given suitable index designations to play any desired game.

As thus far described, the initial impetus has been imparted to ,the ball 21 by hand. It is, however, rather difiicult to attain the desired speed in this way. Therefore, means are provided for mechanically impelling the ball 21 about the bowl I0 during its initial rotation. This is accomplished by mounting a sleeve 30 around the postlZ within the bowl ID. A spool member 3| is rotatably and slidably mounted on the'sleeve 30. A spiral spring 32 is engaged at one extremity to the bottom of the bowl l and at its other extremity to the bottom of the spool 31. The spring constantly tends to urge the spool both in a circumferential direction and an upward direction.

The maximum upward movement of the spool 3| is limited by a stop nut 33 locked on the post l2 by means of a lock nut 34. A stop pin 35 projects downwardly from the stop nut 33 to enter a pin hole 36 in the top of the spool. ing arm 3! is secured to the spool 3| in any desired manner, such as by means of an attachment ear and a bolt 38. The arm 37 extends radially outward, terminating in a forwardly opening ball pocket 39 positioned to rotate within the radius of the retaining rim H.

It can be seen that if the spool 3-! is pressed downwardly until the pin hole 36 releases the pin 35, the spool may be rotated rearwardly to wind the spring 32. The spool is retained in its lowermost position by the pin 35 riding on the top thereof, as shown in Fig. '8. Now, if the ball 21 be placed in the pocket 39 and the arm 31 released, the spring will cause the arm to whirl the ball 21 about the bowl [0 until the pin hole 36 reaches a position below the pin 35. The spring 35 will now stop further rotation of the spool and will snap the latter upwardly to the position of Fig. '7 to allow the ball to continue under its own inertia and to elevate the pocket 39 from the path of the ball i2 1, so that the latter can continue to rotate without interference. This provides an easily used mechanical actuator for the ball 21.

If it is desired to hold the arm 3? in its woundup or set position, this may be accomplished by means of a tiltable latch d0 hinged intermediate its extremities as shown at M on' the side of the bowl I0 and having an inner hooked extremity which can be swung to extend downwardly within the bowl [0 into the path of the pocket '39. The hooked inner extremity is lifted out of the path of the pocket 39, by pressing on the outer extremity of the latch 40, to allow the spring 32 to swing the arm 31. This provides a highly efllcient means or trigger for releasing the arm 3i.

Means are providedwhich may be used for releasing the latch 40 if desired. This is accomplished by hinging an L-shaped lifting lever 42 within the retainin rim H. The lower extremity of the L-shaped lever swings upwardly when the upper extremity is swung sidewardly. The upwardly swinging extremity lifts the latch 33 to release the arm 31, as shown in Fig. 2.

Means are also provided for swinging oi the lifting lever 42 by chance. This is accomplished by mounting a rotatable bracket member 43 on an anti-friction bearing 44 held on the upper extremity of the post l2 by means of a retaining screw 45. A cap member 46 is concentrically mounted in the bracket member 43 and projects upwardly therefrom. The bracket member :33 and its cap 46 are free to rotate about the axis of the post [2. A governor arm 47 carrying a governor weight 48 is hinged on a hinge pin 49 in the bracket member 4 3 so that it may swing in averticalplane. The governor arm-is resiliently supported by means of a tensionspring 50.

Let us assume that the ball 21 has been placed in the pocket 39; that the spool3l has been depressed to release the locking pin 35; that the arm 31 has been rotated rearwardly to wind the spring'32 :and engaged behind the latch member 40; and that the lifting lever 42 isin 'a substan- A throwgovernor iarm d7.

tially vertical position out of contact with the latch 40. The operator now twirls the cap 46 and the attached governor arm 41 in a clockwise direction, and simultaneously rotates the crank 26. The crank rotations are carefully timed by the operator so as to cause the post l2, and the bowl ill, to make one complete oscillation back and forth to each complete revolution of the The swinging post accelerates the rotation of the governor arm 47 so that the speed of the latter will be gradually accelerated as the crank is rotated continuously faster. As the speed of the governor arm increases it is caused to approach a horizontal position, due to centrifugal force, and eventually a position will be reached when the governor arm'will strike the releasing lever 32, causing it to release'the latch 40 to allow the arm 31 to throw the ball 21 about the bowl it. Thus, the time of release or initial movement of the ball 21 is controlled purely by the speed attained by the governor arm 41, so that great skill is required to release the ball 2'! at the desired time to obtain a predetermined score.

While a specific form of the improvement has.

been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A game and amusement device comprising: a substantially vertical post; a bowl concentrically mounted on said post; a freely rolling ball in said bowl; a hinge device mounted on the lower extremity of said post and supporting the latter so that it may swing in a lateral direction; and means for swinging said post to cause said "ball to travelaround the periphery of said bowl.

2. A game and amusement device as described in claim 1 having means mounted on said post above said bowl for initially imparting rotation to said ball.

3. A game and amusement device as described in claim 1 having a rotatable throwing arm mounted on said post above said bowl; a loaded spring adapted to rotate said arm about said post; a ball pocket carried by said arm for initially supporting said ball; and means for releasing said arm so that the reaction of said spring will throw said ball about 'said bowl.

4. A game and amusement device as described in claim 3 having means for removing said :ball pocket from the path ofsaid ball after the initial movement has been imparted thereto.

5. A game and amusementdevice as described in claim 4 having a latch member mounted on said bowl and arranged to swing into the path of said pocket to restrain said arm against the action of said spring until release of said ball is desired.

.6. Agame and amusementdeviceas described in claim 5 having a rotatable centrifugal device mounted on said post above said bowl; and a latch-releasing member projecting upwardly from said bowl so as to be engaged by said centrifugal device when the latter has attained a predetermined speed to cause said latch-releasing member to release said latch.

JESSE J. MORSCH.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

